In 17th century Rotterdam, a young girl, newly orphaned, is employed as a lady's maid to Vrouw Gibbons, English-born wife of a wealthy merchant. Saskia is capable and hard-working, but it soon becomes apparent that her talent for the manufacture of beautifying face balms and other potions - a legacy from her mother - far exceeds her lowly status. She catches the eye of Grinling Gibbons, her employers' only son, an apprentice carver who is already acquiring a reputation for his craft, and of his English friend, Robert Harding.When the Gibbons family decides to return to England, Saskia goes with them. She is an independent-minded and ambitious young woman, and in time the opportunity arises for her to set up in business selling the beauty products which have earned her a devoted clientele. Robert supports and advises her in this enterprise, hopeful of winning her love. But Saskia has given her heart to Grinling Gibbons, a man whose interests lie elsewhere...